The new global worker in organizations: Implications for international management

With increasing globalization, there is much fluidity in the resource demands of multinational corporations\u27 subsidiaries, which have brought resources from different parts of the world to provide the highest skilled labor at lower cost to the operations. This is not a new phenomenon as much research focuses on the collapse of boundaries with regard to technology, products, distribution, and production (for example, the virtual organization). Researchers have examined issues of the expatriate in the host country (Adler, 1997), or theorized about differences in national culture (Hofstede, 1980; Ronen and Shenkar, 1985; Trompenaars, 1994). The focus has been on the entry of US based companies into the world marketplace and the comparison across cultures for the education and edification of expatriates. However, the contention is that globalization has spawned a new phenomenon of the multinational organization hiring large numbers of non-home country nationals to work at the headquarters or the home country. Most of these employees are highly skilled, holding professional, low and mid level jobs. In this dissertation, I argue that these individuals straddle multiple worlds and embody shifting, varied facets of identity in themselves. Even while they may have physically crossed borders and distances, they represent in themselves the histories, contexts and traditions of the many places and spaces that they come from. As such, there is an urgent need to situate these people in their varied contexts. This dissertation will examine this by the use of social identity, ethnic identity and postcolonial (Bhabha, 1990; Spivak, 1991) theoretical orientations. Managers and human resource personnel need to understand the multi faceted nature of their employees\u27 identities and have an appreciation and understanding of these individuals. One of the goals of management is to maximize the potential and use of each employee. In order to better utilize the skills, knowledge and the dedication of employees, it has to be realized that the new labor force is balancing multiple identities. While doing so, they are interacting and communicating with others in the work environment. Hence, an understanding of the histories and traditions of these persons becomes an imperative in the workplace of today\u27s global organization